Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 14:28:07 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: 81 Air cooled... Engine conversion options??
In-Reply-To: <vanagon%2012030623130912@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
hi ..
yup..
the first question is are you going to stay air-cooled or go to
water-cooled.
Get clear on that first.
air-cooled could include a Porsche 911 six cylinder engine ..
that would be interesting ! And has been done many times.
I would not recommend a Dual Port 1600 'at all' personally. BTDT. Not
enough engine unless you never drive on hills or go very fast. Cheap
yes ..but way undersized for the application.
on water-cooled.
it helps to have a whole donor van to get all the cooling system parts
out of.
It all fits in just fine. Including heater core and heater controls,
radiator, main pipes etc.
you common choices there would be VW inline four gas, VW inline four
diesel or Turbo Diesel ..
and subaru.
the Subaru conversion is more involved for sure. Quite rewarding too.
'probably' the 'most natura' water-cooled engine conversion would be a
jetta inline four gasser.
A whole set of Diesel Vanagon engien mounting parts makes that a bolt-in
pretty much.
You want one with Digifant EFI and not CIS or CIS-E.
there is some chance I may end up with a whole Tiico set up ...if that
is of any interest. Located in Southern Oregon ..those parts.
that's an South-African sourced inline four cylinder gas engine set up.
It's a standard conversion..or was, for waterboxer vanagons.
How badly do you want to move beyond the air-cooled world ?
Want to buy a non-camper say ..84 Vanagon ? Got several nice ones.
anyway...what fun !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
On 3/6/2012 8:00 PM, Rob wrote:
> At 3/6/2012 03:07 PM, Mr.mds wrote:
>> Hello to all who read...
>>
>> My 81 is knocking badly.. And I am considering a conversion replacement.
>> Was just wondering which way to go, I'm looking for the most cost
>> effective (not cheaping out) solution.. Any advice would greatly be
>> appreciated!
>>
>> Thanks for reading!
>>
>> MS
>
>
> It depends on what you do with your van, getting it rebuilt before it
> eats itself is a normal course of events but there are other
> alternatives.
>
> This is not a recommendation, just a "in case you didn't know" .
> A rebuilt for $1800 + shipping
> http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=071100627 and I've
> heard that an upright VW aircooled can be bolted in and will work.
> The 1600 dual port was a great engine IMO.
> As another example
> http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pts/2888652067.html is a rebuilt
> 1600 for $800.
>
> You could always put water pipes & a radiator (in the radiator hole
> that is already there) and a drop a Subie or a VW I-4 into it too.
> There are a few places that could convert it to a diesel...
>
> Lot's of options ....
>
>
>
> Rob
> becida@comcast.net
>